Improvement in wood-splitting machines



-UNITED l STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

WILLIAM A. ALLEN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. I [0,4 l5, datedDecember 27, 1870.

- To all 'whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM A. ALLEN, of Baltimore, in the county ofBaltimore and State of Maryland, have invented a new and ImprovedWood-Splitting Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull,

clear, and exact description thereof', which will enable others skilledin the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for splittingkindling-wood; and it consists in a combination, with a fixedfeeding-spout, of a pair of reciprocating splittingblades and a holdingand discharging plate in a manner to split the block into slabs and theslabs into small pieces and discharge the same after being split in asimple and efficient manner. v

It also consists in an arrangement, with the hopper, of a gate forpreventing the discharge of the wood in case the feeding is stoppedwhile the machine continues to run, all as hereinafter described. I

Figure l is a side elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is atransverse section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a partial end elevation.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A represents the frame of the machine, which may be of any approvedshape.

B is a vertical spout or feeder, preferably of rectangular form, andinclosed on the four sides. It is mounted, by preference, on one sideofthe frame A, near one end, and is shaped at the lower end on an upwardinclination with the frame of about forty-tive degrees, as clearly shownin Fig. 2.

C represents one of the knives, which is a broad plate as wide, orthereabout,as the oblique opening at the lower end of the feed-spout. Itis attached to the reciprocating cross-head D so as to-bo parallel withthe plane of the oblique crosssection of the lower end of the spout,said plane being about as much` above the plane ofthe lower end ofthefront side, E, of the spout as the required thickness the pieces of Woodare to be when split, and said knife works between the front and rearsides of the spout across the space within it. Below this knife is theholding` and discharging plate F, which is attached to the cross-headparallel with the knife and as much below it as the required thicknessof the split sticks. It has a wide opening, G, as Wide as the obliquecross-section of the feed-spout, and arranged relatively to the saidknife, so that the main portion is behind the cutting-edge, only aboutone-fourth, or thereabout, being in advance of the cutting-edge. Thisplate extends considerably in advance ofthe edge of the knife, and worksbehind a supporting-guide, H, suitably attached to the frame. The othercutter, I, is

attached to the cross-head above the first, and in a plane perpendicularto it and in clining downward from the frame.v This cutter also worksback and forth nearly across the space of the feeder. The cross-head isarranged in suitable ways, K, in the frame, and may be worked back andforth by any suitable driving mechanism-for instance, a driving-shaft,L-to which it may be connected in any ap proved way.

YThe blocks of wood are to be fed into the spout A sidewise, one uponanother, as they are received from the saw. They fall downward, bygravity, upon the extension F of the plateF when the knives arewithdrawn, and are split irst into the slabs M (indicated by :dottedlines in Fig. 2) by the knife I. Then the slabs are split crosswise bythe lower knife, when they come down to it, and the pieces split offfrom the lower edges of the slabs are discharged between the edge N ofthe part F of the plate F and the edge of the lowercutter immediatelyafter the splitting is effected, the said part F of the platel beingmoved from nnder the pieces as the knife moves forward to effect thesplitting, and the pieces split off the slabs being held against movingwith the plate by the side O of the feeder, which in this case is formedby the strong beam P of the frame to resist the force of the cutters.The said pieces are prevented from being carried back with the knifeG'by the plate L. When the cutters move back again the blocks of Woodand slabs feed downward to the place made' vacant by the piecesdischarged for the next out. In commencing the operation the part of theblock split off by the knife at the rst movement will be a thick piece,not split into slabs, as here indicated, which piece will be dischargedin slabs formed by the lower knife; but the subsequent vmovement; of theupper cutter will form slabs out obliquely across the block, as shown,which, feeding down in the order indicated, will be presented edgewiseto the lower knife and split thereby into the .pieces required. In orderto prevent making these slabs as often as the feedingto the hopper isrenewed, after stopping long enough for all the blocks in the hopper tobecome worked up while the machine continues running,as often occursincase of failure of the sawing-machines to keep up the supply and byother causes, I have provided the sliding gate a, for sliding in abovethe plate F F from the side of the hopper opposite the cutters, to beshoved in at each time the feeding stops, to close the hopper just belowthe cutter C and retain the supply in the hopper until the feedingcommences again, when o'n withdrawing the said gate the discharging willbe resumed. This gate is operated in this instance by the handlever b,and a spring-stop, d, is formed to catchv in notches in the gate to holdit open or closed. The said gate is beveled at the end next the cutter Gon the upper side, so that it will not interfere with the edge of thecutter, and a spring, e, is provided to hold the gate up snugly againstthe upper bearing, to allow it to be held downward when the knife hassplit oifthe pieces from the sticks remaining, and so that when theknife C goes back the gate will rise andlift the wood high enough forthe edge to enter under the wood when moving forward or in the sameplace at each movement. I do not limit myself, however, to thearrangements here shown for working this gate, as it is obvious thatother means may be employed as well.

It may sometimes be necessary to reduce the breadth of the hopper for'shorter wood, it being made broad enough in the direction in which thecutters move for the largest wood, and for thisI purpose I propose toprovide plates for temporary attachment to the 'plate L', and to theside ofthe hopper above, inside of the latter, for contracting the spaceon that side, said plates to be attached by dowel-pins and screws, or byany equivalent device admitting of changing them readily. Several setsof these plates may be employed of different thicknesses for differentlengths of wood.

By reason of the vertical arrangement of the feeding-hopper the blocksof wood being piled one upon another will he moved down instantly whenthe cutters are drawn back, and the feed will be accelerated by theweight of the column, so that the machine may be run much more rapidlythan when the feed depends upon the weight of a single slab. Anotherpeculiarity of the arrangement is that as both knives move forward andback together the feeding for both is effected by each movement of theblocks. The machine may therefore be run with great rapidity.

It will be observed that the lower knife is made longer than the upperone, also that it is arranged to move entirely across the feedinghopper,which is done to insure the complete separation of the pieces from theslabs, so as to prevent'any possibility ot' clogging by the failure ofthe pieces to become completely severed incase the timber is tough andstrin gy, as would be the case if the cutter did not move wholly acrossthe said hopper or feeder.

The essential features of my invention are, first, the arrangement ofthe cutters, so that while they are perpendicular to each other theyboth work across the feeder so as to split the wood in the crossdirections required, and, secondly, the arrangement ofthe holding anddischarging plate relatively to the cutter andthe feeder, as shown,whereby the said plate becomes the bottom ot` the feeder, when theknives are withdrawn, arresting and holding the blocks for the nextoperation, and admitting the discharge of the split sticks by lnovingfrom under them when the cutters move forward for the next operation.

Having thus described myinventiou, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the feeder, reciprocatingcutters, and the reciprocating plate, all substantially as specified.

2. rEhe combination, with the cutters and the hopper, of the gate a,substantially as specified.

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 20th day ofSeptember, 1870.

WILLIAM A. ALLEN. Witnesses:

GEo. W. MABEE, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

